Pack Mentality Part One
by BlackPan1her
Summary: Gorilla Grood sets his insatiable thirst for conquest on Wakanda, and faces the Black Panther.


Pack Mentality

It's a hot summer day in Wakanda, as two Wakandan soldiers are patrolling the outer borders of the country. All of a sudden they heard a rustling in the bushes among the dense jungle. The first soldier thought it was just a tiger or another indigenous beast, but the other soldier decided to check out what the sound came from. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Anan, unless you want to lose a hand…," the one soldier said. "I'll be fine, Apunda, besides it could be something to report to the general, especially if there is another panther hiding somewhere. The king always likes to have them as pets," the second soldier replied. Anan continued venturing into the bushes, and all of a sudden was forcing into the bushes but something that was apparently incredibly strong. "Anan!? Are you ok, brother?" Apunda yelled. After the man was seemingly swallowed into the jungle growth, this was no sound coming from the bushes for a few minutes. Anan's brother Apunda was about to see if he was alright, believing he was dead, when suddenly Anan rose from the bushes and walked towards him with an emotionless expression on his face. Apunda hugged his brother and said, "You were always the joker among all of us growing, but do not scare me like that ever again!" Anan released himself from his brother's embrace and immediately reached for his rifle, then pointed at his brother, whose eyes were filled with disbelief and shock. "Brother… you can stop kidding around now, it's not funny anymo—"

Apunda was not able to finish the sentence, as he was shot point blank in the heart, killing him on impact. As his brother fell to the ground dead, Anan had the same emotionless expression on his face. After hearing the shot, a large creature showed itself from the bushes. It was a gorilla, and it was walking on two feet. The gorilla waved his hand and Anan turned around, seemingly by force. If the soldier wasn't being mind controlled, he would have been shocked to hear the gorilla begin to speak.

"Foolish humans. So easy to be bent to my will. You may not know it, but you're about to become an important part of my plan. I will conquer this land and use it as a base to combat my nemesis Solovar and his army in Gorilla City. But I am fair, I will give your country a warning, false hope to seem as if they have a fighting chance. Go to your king, T'Challa I believe his name is, and tell him that Grood is coming to conquer. Because when I set my mind on something…" Grood paused himself to pick up Apunda's rifle and crush it with his bare hands, then continued. "…There is nothing that can stand it my way."

The next day, the Wakandan people were outraged by the news that there was friendly fire that caused the death of a soldier. T'Challa, the king of Wakanda, also known the Black Panther, had just finished a speech addressing the situation, and was about to hold a private meeting with his council. All of a sudden, Anan, being controlled by Grood, stormed into the palace. T'Challa's bodyguards immediately leaped in front the king to protect him, but the Black Panther quickly gestured the guards to return to their posts. T'Challa walked towards the soldier and asked him to introduce himself.

"My name is of no importance to you, T'Challa. I came to warn you of someone… something coming for you and your precious vibranium mound."

N'Gassi, T'Challa's number one advisor and right hand man, interjected, "You do not speak to the Black Panther with such a tone, young man!" T'Challa raised his hand and told him to continue while staring at the soldier's eyes. He noticed the glazed, disoriented look in the man's eyes. He had seen that look before fighting alongside the Avengers; it was the telltale sign of mind control.

"I am going to ask you once again… introduce yourself. I know you aren't one of my men."

"Your detective skills speak for themselves, T'Challa. I am Grood. I have heard many things about your extensive intelligence. And that is why I am giving fair warning of my… conquest."

"If you know so much about me, then you know that no one has entered Wakanda with intentions to conquer and survive my wrath."

"You're just as arrogant as they say too."

"You're making me lose my patience."

"And you have run out of time."

Anon quickly took off his jacket, revealing a compact bomb that was set to explode. Instinctively, T'Challa lunged at N'Gassi to prevent him from the inevitable explosion. The Black Panther's vibranium costume protected him from the explosion, and his vibranium-laced cape kept N'Gassi safe from the impact.

When the dust settled, the Black Panther ordered his bodyguards to surround the palace. Then he looked down at N'Gassi to see if he was okay. He was passed out but was not harmed. T'Challa looked out one of the palace windows and saw more large explosions in key locations around the city.

"He's trying to cause confusion. At least most of the civilians will be safe and sheltered from whatever this thing is."

Grood suddenly came into sight through the smoke and dust of one of the explosions near the far east of the city. A few Wakandan soldiers started attacking him, and were quickly tossed aside by the massive foe. Grood quickly set his sights on the Wakandan palace. There were some fighter jets heading towards Grood. The villain scuffed at the sight and used his telepathic ability to cause the fighter pilots to fall asleep, causing the jets to crash.

The Black Panther helped a few women and children to safety when Grood appeared before him. T'Challa hyper-extended the claws in his costume.

"You were expecting an inferior human?"

"Actually, I was expecting someone taller."

"A barrel of laughs, you are."

Grood attempted to control T'Challa's mind, but found out that the vibranium laced into his cowel prevented that. "I haven't had to best someone in hand-to-hand combat in some time. A refreshing turn of events." T'Challa thought to himself, "This Grood character makes Doctor Doom sound humble."

Grood leaped into the air and attempted to pounce onto T'Challa, who rolled out of the way. The Black Panther then threw a few daggers at Grood, and one of them landed in his chest. Grood quickly pulled it out and lunged towards him. Black Panther was prepared, daggers in hand, and dodged Grood's strikes and stabbing him the gut. He left one of the daggers in his gut and struck a few critical points on Grood. Grood countered one of the blows and sent T'Challa flying with a massive backhand. Grood then took a few steps back and noticed he lost some feeling in his left arm and knee. Furious, Grood then pulled a gun out of his holster and started firing at the Black Panther.

The Black Panther ran up a wall and dodged Grood's shots, then grabbed a downed soldier's spear. Grood began to recover, and ran towards Black Panther with animalistic rage. Panther used the spear as a pole vault and flew above and past the charging Grood. Grood was one step ahead, however, and shot T'Challa in the back once he touched the ground. The shot was not fatal, but it knocked out the Panther long enough for Grood to mount T'Challa and strike him several times in the temple. Grood tore off the Panther's cowel and stared into the king's eyes, using his immense power to break down the fabric of the Black Panther's mind. T'Challa yelled in pain as Grood grinned evilly, knowing that a few more moments Black Panther would be braindead.

All of a sudden, Grood backed off of T'Challa, and let of a grunt in pain. Another gorilla stood over the two with a gun of his own, and lent out a hand to T'Challa.

T'Challa staggered to get up and was about to ask who the ape was, when Grood got up and starting shooting at the other gorilla. The second gorilla yelled at T'Challa to jump on to his vehicle as they drove away.

T'Challa, now aware of his surroundings, said, "Who are you?"

"My name is Solovar. I come from the Gorilla City, where Grood is also originally from. I assure you he can trust me, however I am not sure how long it will take for Grood to try and find you."

"I could have taken on Grood myself.. somehow."

"I am sure you might have been able to, if Grood had no access to your mind. I know just how powerful Grood is; I have the same abilities and he is far stronger than I."

"So you and Grood are part of a race of hyper-intelligent gorillas? My father… told stories of this, but I thought they were just fiction…"

"Yes. We live in seclusion from most of the world for obvious reasons, similar to your country, T'Challa. Grood has constantly tried to take control of our city, but I have always found a way to stop him."

"And you plan to again… But where are you taking me?"

Solovar did not need to respond, as they were close to Gorilla City. Though they were in the middle of a desolate desert, a massive dome-shaped construct came slowly in view, being cloaked from the rest of the world. As the dome appeared, a huge door opened and showed the city: expansive and technologically superior to most civilization, with tall buildings and bipedal gorillas commuting throughout the city.

All T'Challa could utter was, "By the Panther god…"

"Welcome, Black Panther, to Gorilla City."

-End of Part 1-


End file.
